Justice News

U.S. Attorney’s Office to Monitor Election Complaints in Kansas

TOPEKA, KAN. - A federal prosecutor will be on duty during election day to respond to complaints of possible election fraud and voting rights violations in Kansas, Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leon Patton will be available to the public at 913-551-6730 while the polls are open on Nov. 8.

“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud,” Beall said. “We will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”

Beall said he does not expect any problems during the voting. He noted, however, that there are penalties under federal law for any efforts to fraudulently influence the outcome of the election or to improperly prevent another person from exercising the right to vote.

Patton will join other federal prosecutors nationwide as part of the Justice Department’s election-day monitoring program. They will work in consultation with Justice Department headquarters.

The FBI’s Kansas City Field Office will also have Special Agents available to receive allegations of election fraud, intimidation, suppression, and other election abuses. The public can provide information regarding possible election crimes to the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office’s toll-free hotline, 1-855-527-2847, or email kcpctip@ic.fbi.gov.

Citizen complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767, by fax at 202-307-3961, by email to voting.section@usdoj.gov, or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php .

Any questions involving state or local issues may be referred to the Elections Division of the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office at 1-800-262-8683, or to the pertinent county election office.